Good Intentions: Are they as good as we think they are?

Does creating a goal help us work harder at the activities we engage in? Or does it really have a negative impact on the entire experience? The article "How Goals and Good Intentions Can Hold Us Back" by Christian Jarrett explores the notion that making a long-term goal can make any activity less enjoyable. 

In a study done by The University of Chicago and the Korea Business School, experts looked at various groups of people engaging in various activities and measured their amount of happiness after doing that activity. People who participated in exercise, yoga and origami were all observed and at the end of each trial it was found that those who went into each activity with a set goal in mind were not only less satisfied with the overall experience than those who had no goal, but also did not perform as well.

People who exercised with a goal in mind not only were less happy by the end of their exercise, but were also found to have exercised for less time than those who had no apparent goal. Women who engaged in yoga for sheer pleasure were found to have a much better experience than those who went in with a goal in mind. The same thing occurred with those doing origami just for the joy of it, and those who did it to reap its benefits.

The study explained in this article raises an interesting idea. Thinking back on the goals that I've made for various things, I believe that there is some merit to this idea. When I make a goal, whether it's in school or some outside activity, I usually spend more time thinking of the goal than I do the actual task.Will I accomplish my goal? When will I accomplish it by? Will I accomplish it at all? I'm always focused on these questions more than what I'm actually doing. These questions can be stressful and can in fact take away from any enjoyment I could have in whatever I'm doing.

For instance, when I am drawing or painting at home I'm typically quite happy. It's relaxing and I work well. But when I have an assignment for school that I'm working on, I find that I'm much more stressed and less pleased doing it. This is because I have a desire to succeed and a goal to fulfill on that project that I don't have working on something at home or during my free time. The pressure to do well on that assignment and get a good grade and create a piece my teacher and classmates will approve of ends up being detrimental to my work as a whole.

Creating a goal creates a pressure to follow through and achieve it. We fear that if we do not follow through and achieve what we set our goal to be that we will be dissatisfied and the time and energy put into that activity will be wasted. I personally believe that goals are an important part of life. Having something to strive for can be a great thing. But maybe we just need to take some of the pressure and stress off of achieving these goals and be content to do the best we can.